Friction
by allyg1990
Summary: Rogue's failed attempt at sneaking out causes more friction between her and Logan than she first expected... Written for the andthexmen LJ community's third fic prompt. Rogue/Logan friendship, ONESHOT.


Title: Friction

Summary: For andthexmen's Off-Season Fic Off #3

Rating: K+

Pairing: Rogan friendship

Warnings: My first fic for Wolverine and the X-Men, therefore probably very OOC.

Disclaimer: Marvel owns everything

* * *

It was one forty-five in the morning when Rogue twisted the door handle and snuck out of the room. She pushed the door closed painfully slowly and winced when it clicked shut. Then she crept down the stairs, careful to avoid the one squeaky step that would make the whole operation a failure. The door was suddenly in plain sight—she was home free! She tiptoed towards those mahogany gates of freedom with her trench coat billowing around her ankles…

The floorboards creaked behind her and she froze. Now that her coat wasn't rustling she could hear slow, steady breaths behind her. Another creak, softer this time, as whoever was behind her shifted their weight from foot to foot.

"Where do you think you're goin', Rogue?"

She sighed when she realised who it was, half in relief and half in annoyance that she'd been caught. To be fair, it wasn't exactly easy to sneak out from under the nose of someone with enhanced senses.

"Out," she replied, and shoved her gloved hands deep into her coat pockets. Time stood still for a split second as she braced herself for the tongue lashing that was sure to come.

Funnily enough, Logan's voice came out sceptical. "At two in the mornin'?"

She shrugged. "Ah couldn't sleep."

He snorted. "Right," he muttered, and she heard him take a step forward. His hand pressed down on her shoulder and she let him turn her around. Under his reproachful stare she drew herself up a little taller and raised her eyebrows in challenge, looking him straight in the eyes.

He mimicked her action and let his hand drop to his side. "If you can't sleep, you can watch a movie or grab a snack or somethin'. You _don't_ go sneakin' out, especially when I told you not to this mornin'."

She scowled. "Ah ain't a little girl anymore, Logan. You can't tell meh what to do."

A grin tugged on the corners of Logan's mouth, and it sent fire bubbling through Rogue's stomach. "My team, my rules."

"_Your_ team?" she shot back, maybe a little more forcefully than she should have.

"I'm team leader," he corrected without missing a beat. "So for the time being, what I say goes. Now, you've got thirty seconds to explain why you were disobeying a direct order."

Her expression soured. What right had he to—but she really didn't want a solid month of extra training sessions, so she 'fessed up.

"Fahne. Ah haven't been outta this place in two weeks, and it's gettin' a little cramped. Ah just wanted tah clear mah head, get some air…"

"If you wanted to get out so badly, you could have asked to go with Ororo, or Kitty—heck, even Bobby would be better than goin' alone," he retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "Did it ever occur to yah that ah ain't fond of Storm's motherin', Kitty won't leave well enough alone, and ah'd rather get bitten by a gator than spend more than thirty seconds with the popsicle?"

He didn't smile. He might have before the explosion, she realized with a pang of sadness, but this was a whole new ball game. "Safety takes priority over havin' fun, Rogue. You know that. Chuck's dependin' on us to—"

"The Professah isn't stuck behind locked doors, and he doesn't have to deal with people screamin' at him twenty four seven inside his own head!" she hissed.

"If you've got a problem with your psyches, you can talk to Jean," Logan said sensibly. She frowned harder, and he sighed. "Look, Rogue, you're my responsibility—"

"Ah'm not your responsibility!" she spat. "Ah forgave you, Logan. You forgave meh, and you took me in again—let me re-join the X-Men. That doesn't make meh your daughter. It makes meh your teammate. So quit treatin' meh like ah'm made of glass. Ah can take care of myself."

He froze, and she took a deep, angry breath before delivering the final punch:

"Ah did well enough when you were gone, didn't ah?"

With that, she turned on her heel and strode towards the door. It slammed behind her in unison with the thunder, and the lightning that followed cast her silhouette onto the grass outside. In a few minutes Wolverine would run to wake Jean up and have her track the southern girl until she came back in the morning, but Rogue didn't know that.

When she turned to take one last look at her home, all she could see was Logan standing dumbstruck in front of the window, watching her leave with the look of a man who had just had his heart torn out.

* * *

_So, my first Wolverine and the X-Men ficlet, courtesy of the andthexmen LJ community's inspiring little prompt, 'Directives are lame, anyway.'_

_It was nice to have a break between my recent update of Behind Enemy Lines and finishing the next chapter... I think i'll do this again! _

_Comments much appreciated. :)_

_allyg1990_


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